16 in 11

It's the big snow storm of 2011.

The weather person warned that we might get some snow. You know... 2 to 4 inches or so.

Well, we are up to 16 inches and it's still coming down fast!

There was a trace on the ground this morning and school was starting on time.

So, we dropped Mikayla off at school and Alexia headed out to the bus stop with friends while Tanya and I headed off to work.

Alexia's bus was in an accident (before she was picked up) and then school was canceled.

The kids played with friends all day while the snow continued to fall.

My 30 minute drive home took about an hour and a half. Our road was gridlocked with stranded cars. Eventually I just parked it along side the road and walked the last third of a mile to the house.

Here is the current view out the back door:

You can see how it's piled up on the playhouse roof but you can also see the depth piling up on the trampoline.

There is more than 16 inches of untouched snow on the back deck. And it's still coming down fast.

After the traffic seemed to taper off, I hiked back down to the car and drove it home without any trouble.

Well, there was a little excitement as I hit the bank of powder that is hiding our driveway. The snow depth is higher than my bumper. The impact, even at low speed, sent an explosion of powder up into the air just like you'd see in a car commercial. (Take that all you stunt driver's on closed courses... I DID try this at home and I rocked it!)

Suddenly, the increased weight of the snow being plowed and the reduction in speed left me stuck in my own driveway, partly blocking the path to get the other car out of the garage.

Time for a little shoveling... as soon as I extracted myself from the car. This was made more difficult because the snow was piled up above the bottom of the car door, requiring a little extra effort to force the door open as it pushed the snow away.

Eventually the car found its normal spot in the driveway (well, pretty close anyway).

Chances are high that we'll all be spending a 'family day' together on Thursday. That means three of us will be reading and playing and one of us will be working from home.

Maybe I'll get Tanya to give another shot at wearing snowshoes tomorrow. :)

~E